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r POCKET SERIES NO. 430 
d. by E. Haldeman-Julius 


.try for Profit 


R. A. Power 
B. S. in Agriculture 


HALDEMAN-JULIUS COMPANY 
GIRARD, KANSAS 


















TEN CENT POCKET SERIES NO. 430 

Edited by E. Haldeman-Julius 


Poultry for Profit 

R. A. Power 

B. S. in Agriculture 







HALDEMAN-JULIUS COMPANY 
GIRARD, KANSAS 


Copyright, 1923, 
Haldeman-Julius Company. 


StP 1 1 1323 ' 

1 A i 

© Cl A757212 


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POULTRY FOR PROFIT 


CHAPTER I. 

THE OUTLOOK 

When a business reaches the billion dollar 
mark per year, it is generally looked into by 
thinking people who like to know the facts of 
the case, and who want to know just why the 
business has reached such large proportions. 
In this little booklet I will endeavor to explain 
not only why the poultry business has grown 
so rapidly, but will also reveal the most im¬ 
portant secrets that have contributed largely 
to its rapid growth, so that whether the reader 
is a farmer, a tow’n lot fancier, or a student of 
economics, he or she will gain much by the 
reading and the studying of the principles in¬ 
volved. 

The high cost of living has forced many 
people to economize to the limit, and reduce 
the family budget to the minimum. People in 
the small towns and villages, especially, have 
sought various ways of increasing their earn¬ 
ings, and one of the most popular methods re- 


4' POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

sorted to has been to raise a few chickens, thus 
utilizing the table scraps, and odds and ends, 
so that there will be no waste. It has been 
proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that chick¬ 
ens can be raised profitably by the person liv¬ 
ing in town, as well as by the farmer with his 
vast acres, providing the townsman knows a 
few essential principles in regard to the proper 
handling of the birds. 

Poultry products are becoming popular more 
than ever before. This is due in part to the 
increased price of beef and pork. Eggs are 
an established part of the nation’s menu, while 
the meat of the chicken is now within the 
means of most American families. Since these 
facts are recognized, there has been a revolu¬ 
tion in the poultry industry itself to cope with 
the increased demand for eggs, meat, and breed¬ 
ing stock. 

Many city people have' taken advantage of 
the opportunity of raising chickens, and many 
an old packing box, or piano box has been re¬ 
lieved of its original purpose of encasing fur¬ 
niture, or other articles, and has done its bit 
to act as part of a shelter for housing some 
back-yard lot of chickens. What has been done. 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 5 

can be done, and inasmuch as the value of the 
egg, or the carcass of the bird still maintains 
its high standard on the market, it stands to 
reason that the poultry industry is still in its 
infancy. Much more will be done in the future 
than has been done in the past. 

Consequently, there is still one industry that 
is not overcrowded, despite the great number 
who have taken it up, either as a vocation, or 
as an avocation. When it is considered that 
New York City alone cannot get enough eggs 
to supply the demand during the fall and winter 
months, and is willing to pay, and pay dearly 
for breakfast eggs, and that the vicinity of 
Pataluma, Cal., finds it profitable to ship its 
eggs across the continent to put them on the 
New York market, it can be seen quite clearly 
that there are excellent possibilities in poultry, 
even in just a small back yard flock. 

The remainder of this booklet will be devoted 
to showing the ordinary layman, who has had 
no previous knowledge or experience, how he 
can take a small flock, or a large flock, and 
turn it into pleasure and profit. However, 
one word of caution is necessary. Let no one 
attempt to venture upon a poultry enterprise 


6 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

on a big scale at first. History has shown 
countless failures in such attempts, and history 
has a way of repeating itself. It is always 
wiser to start moderately, and work into it 
gradually. This method always proves suc¬ 
cessful if common sense and moderation are 
exhibited. 

CHAPTER II. 

THE POULTRY BREEDS 

Before attempting to discuss the methods of 
raising poultry it is deemed advisable to first 
take up a discussion of the different breeds and 
their characteristics. Outside of a few fancy 
breeds, that are raised more for curiosity or 
show purposes, we usually think of the breeds 
of poultry as three distinct classes. 

The first of these three classes that we will 
take up for discussion is what is termed the 
egg breed. This breed is usually represented 
by such birds as the Leghorn, Ancona, Cam- 
pine, Minorca, or the Houdan. Of these five 
breeds, the Leghorn and the Minorca are by 
far the most popular. There are different varie¬ 
ties of all these breeds, but the White Leghorn, 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 7 

and the Black Minorca are much more popular 
In their respective breeds than are any other 
variety. The other breeds are found scattered 
here and there, but the Leghorn and Minorca 
are easily the leading egg breeds. Both of 
these breeds have many birds with yearly rec¬ 
ords of over 300 eggs per year. Next let us 
consider a few of the important characteristics 
of these egg breeds. 

These breeds are small, light of weight, very 
active, and very hard to confine in a small in¬ 
closure. The average adult bird of these breeds 
weighs about four pounds. They are neat and 
attractive in appearance, have clean shanks, and 
have large head parts, which are much more 
susceptible to being frosted in cold weather, 
than the other breeds. 

The egg production of the egg breed is of 
the best. As has been stated, there are a great 
number of birds in this class that have records 
of over 300 eggs per year. Their eggs are 
white shelled, of good size, and rather long. 
However the meat of these birds, especially 
when matured, is very tough, and the active 
disposition of the egg breeds do not allow 
them to put on surplus flesh as with the other 


8 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

class of birds. Quick maturity is characteristic 
of the egg breeds, however, and because of this 
fact, they make excellent small broilers when 
but a few months old. But it is useless to put 
them on the market for meat when mature, as 
they will not fatten like the heavier breeds. 

The disposition of these breeds, as has been 
said, is active, nervous, and hard to confine. 
^Therefore, for the person with a small lot on 
which to raise chickens, it would be well to 
choose a heavier breed that stands confine¬ 
ment better than these breeds. These birds are 
active in the house in winter, or on the range 
in summer, and owing to their natural tendency 
to roam, they are always uneasy when con¬ 
fined to a small yard. They also have excel¬ 
lent powers of flight, and can usually fly over 
a fence unless the fence is about \eight feet 
high. 

The egg breed, owing to the activity so char¬ 
acteristic to such breeds, makes poor sitters 
and mothers. It is very seldom that a fowl of 
these breeds can content herself to set on a 
nest of eggs three weeks, which is the time 
required to hatch the eggs. Their eggs are 
usually hatched under a general purpose hen, 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 9 

or with an incubator. They make poor mothers, 
because they usually like to roam too far to 
properly look after their young. 

Another point in favor of the egg breeds, 
however, is their early maturity. Usually these 
birds will mature in close to four months. This 
allows them plenty of time to get into laying 
condition in the fall, before cold weather starts, 
and birds that can lay eggs during the mon|Jis 
of November and December are certainly an 
asset, as eggs always bring the highest prices 
on the market during these two months. 

These birds will live on less feed than any 
other class because of their small size, and 
their great foraging ability. However, these 
breeds are not as hardy as the heavier breeds, 
and will not stand the cold as well, because of 
their lack of feathers, and large combs and 
wattles. These large head parts are easily frost 
’ bitten in cold weather, and when this happens 
the birds generally stop laying until they have 
recovered from the setback. With these few 
words on the egg breed characteristics, let 
us next consider the general purpose breed. 

When we speak of general purpose breeds, 
we usually mean one of four different breeds. 


10 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

The Plymouth Rock, Rhode Island Red, Orping¬ 
ton, and the Wyandotte are the four leading 
breeds of this class. Then there are quite a 
few different varieties of each of these four 
breeds, such as the Barred Rock, the White 
Rock, the Buff Rock, etc. These breeds are 
very good both as egg birds, and for meat pur¬ 
poses, and find favor where ever they go. I 
will attempt to analyze their characteristics, 
bringing out their strong points and their weak 
points, as I have already done with the egg 
breeds. 

These breeds have been developed for egg 
production, and as a result, have many birds in 
the 300 egg class, as well as the strictly egg 
breeds. If any are to be disposed of, they have 
the ability to put on flesh and to bring a good 
price on the market for meat. When one 
realizes that usually one half of a hatch of 
chickens are males, and the other half females, 
it can be easily seen that the general purpose 
bird has an advantage, in the sale of the male 
birds, and of the surplus females, as they can 
be fed fattening feeds, and a good profit made 
from this source. 

The general purpose birds make excellent 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 11 

mothers and sitters. They have a broody dis¬ 
position, and will set on the nest the required 
three weeks to hatch the chickens. They will 
also take care of their young as a parent should. 
In fact, one of the criticisms of this class of 
birds is that they are too broody, and are a 
nuisance in this particular. They are far more 
quiet than the egg breeds, and stand confine¬ 
ment with no apparent discomforture. They 
make an ideal bird for the back lot. 

These birds are fairly good foragers, but 
take a little more feed to maintain their upkeep 
than do the egg breeds. They have smaller 
head parts than the egg breeds, and a heavier 
coating of flesh and feathers thus enabling 
them to withstand cold weather much better 
than the egg breeds. 

These breeds, in most cases, have yellow 
shanks, long well rounded bodies, and weigh 
about six pounds at maturity. They are not as 
nervous or as active as the egg breeds, but 
require a month or two longer to mature and 
to get into laying condition, than the egg 
breeds. 

We will close this discussion on breed char¬ 
acteristics with a few words on the meat breeds. 


12 .POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

There are four generally recognized meat 
breeds. These are the Brahams, Cochins, 
Langshans, and the Cornish Game, with their 
several varieties. The adult meat bird usually 
weighs about eight pounds, but the male birds 
weigh even more than this, sometimes reach¬ 
ing twelve pounds or more. These birds are 
rather awkward and clumsy, in fact, so much so 
that they make poor sitters, as their awkward¬ 
ness often causes them to break the eggs in 
the nest. They have an abundance of feathers 
and meat on their body, which makes them 
easy to winter. Generally speaking, the heav¬ 
ier the bird, the poorer the laying ability, and 
this is true with the meat breeds. They do not 
lay a very large number of eggs during the 
year, being raised mostly for their flesh, which 
is unsurpassed for table purposes. As is the 
custom with heavy animals, the meat birds are 
lazy and sluggish, do not roam far for their 
food, and consume a comparatively large 
amount of grain for this reason. The meat 
breeds take a longer period of time to gain 
maturity than any other class, the average time 
being about eight months. As has been said, 
they are primarily a- meat breed, and it is for 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 13 

this purpose that they are mostly used. They 
do lay eggs, however, and about 100 eggs per 

* r' • ’ ‘V * 

year is a good average. They, like the general 
purpose breed, lay a brown shelled egg, while 
the egg breeds lay a white shelled egg, which 
brings a higher price on every market in the 
country but the Boston market. The brown 
shelled egg brings the higher price on the 
Boston market. 

CHAPTER III. 

GETTING A START 

We have now discussed quite minutely the 
good and bad points of the three main classes 
of birds. Each class, and each breed has its 
merits and demerits. The one who wants to 
make a start in raising poultry should choose 
the breed that appeals to his likes the most, 
and the one that he can realize the most suc¬ 
cess with, under the conditions that he will 
have to raise them. There is no best breed, 
whether it is chickens, cows, or hogs. They 
all have their good points, and their weak ones. 
It is up to each individual to pick the breed 
chat appeals to him the most. 


14 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

Granted that you have pretty near decided 
the breed that you want to use, let us see how 
we can secure our first birds, if we have none 
as yet to start with. There are generally three 
different ways in which we can secure our 
foundation stock. The first way is by buying 
adult birds and mating them, and raising the 
resulting chicks. Another way is by purchas¬ 
ing hatching eggs, either from a neighbor or 
from a regular breeder or hatchery. The third 
way is by buying day-old chicks from the vari¬ 
ous hatcheries, and raising these to maturity. 
Let us consider each of these methods sepa¬ 
rately, and thereby inform ourselves on the 
advantages and disadvantages of each method. 

In selecting adult birds for breeding pur¬ 
poses, and thus relying on these birds to pro¬ 
duce the hatching eggs, a few points are neces¬ 
sary to bear in mind, if one wants the best 
results. As these birds are to be the founda¬ 
tion of your future flock, don’t buy them too 
hastily, and also do not try to buy the cheapest 
birds that you can find on the market, as you 
usually get just what you pay for. Therefore, 
the first thing to do is to look through poultry 
papers, farm weeklies, etc., or to inquire locally 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 15 

from some neighboring breeder, and find out 
just what it will cost you for adult females. 
Having the desired breed in mind, it would be 
advisable to post yourself on the qualifications, 
and the disqualifications of this particular 
breed. Standard weight for the breed is an 
important consideration in this connection. If 
the standard weight for an adult female is five 
pounds, try to get females that weigh around 
six pounds. These qualifications can be found, 
for every breed in the American Standard of 
Perfection, a book published by the American 
Poultry Association, and found in most libra¬ 
ries. Another very important factor is the 
health of the birds. No birds should be used 
for breeding purposes that have ever had any 
of the common poultry diseases, such as roup, 
chicken pox, etc., as their resulting chicks will 
also have a tendency toward this disease. 
Select nothing but healthy, vigorous birds, of 
standard weight and color, free from disease, 
of good body conformation, and not less than 
one year old. When pullets, or birds of less 
than a year old, are used for breeding, the re¬ 
sult is a small egg, which hatches out a small, 
under-sized chick. 


16 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

If you can get in touch with your State Col¬ 
lege of Agriculture, they can usually inform 
you of some reliable breeder who can furnish 
you with the kind of birds you want. In se- ( 
lecting the cockerels, or male birds, one very 
good way is to buy them from an unrelated 
flock, and buy some that are especially strong 
where the females are weak. For instance, if 
the females that you have purchased are a 
little light in color, it would be advisable to 
secure males that are a little darker in color 
than the standard calls for. It is never advis¬ 
able to mate more than ten females with one 
male, because if more are mated, the fertility 
of the eggs will suffer. Many successful breed¬ 
ers even use two male birds with a pen of ten 
females, alternating one male in the breeding 
pen every other day. Thus the fertility of the 
hatching egg is doubly assured. 

A cheaper method of securing the foundation 
stock is in buying the hatching eggs, but not 
quite as satisfactory as the first method. These 
eggs are usually sold by the sitting, amounting 
to fifteen eggs, or by‘the hundred. When buy¬ 
ing by the sitting, one buys from a regular 
breeder, and pays anywhere from $1.50 up to 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 17 

as high as $50 per sitting. It is not advisable 
for the beginner to pay either of these ex¬ 
tremes, hut to plan to buy eggs not over $5 
per setting. Then as you progress in the busi¬ 
ness, you can purchase males to mate with 
your females to gradually improve your flock. 
This method necessitates the use of an incu¬ 
bator, unless you can arrange with some friend 
who will loan you the use of his incubator. 
Of course, if you already have some mature 
birds, even of a different breed, you can set 
these eggs under these birds, when they be¬ 
come broody in the spring, and secure even a 
larger hatch than you can from the use of an 
incubator. Generally, a mature bird can set 
on about fifteen eggs, and hatch every fertile 
egg in the sitting. A more detailed discussion 
on incubation will be given in the next chapter. 

The third way that one can secure a start 
in the poultry business, is by buying day-old 
chicks. This is an industry that has grown by 
leaps and bounds in the last few years. The 
price generally charged for these day-old chicks 
is twice as much as is charged for the hatching 
eggs. A fair price for 100 day-old chicks is 
from $15 to $20. Of course, the quality of these 


18 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

chicks is inferior to the higher priced sittings 
of eggs, but if one is not so particular as to 
type and show purposes, this method is very 
satisfactory. The day-old chick business is 
founded upon the principle that it is not ad¬ 
visable to feed the chick for the first forty- 
eight hours of its life, because just before the 
chick emerges from the shell, it absorbs the 
remainder of the yolk of the egg, and it is ex¬ 
ceedingly dangerous to feed the chick any food v 
during that period, as the chick will be sure to 
experience digestive troubles, if any thing be¬ 
sides water and grit is given to the chicks for 
the first two days. Therefore, these chicks 
are placed in a well ventilated box and sent 
by parcel post often as far as a thousand miles, 
with no loss in mortality. For one that has 
no incubator or mature hens, this offers a very 
satisfactory method of starting out in the 
chicken business. There are commercial hatch¬ 
eries all over the country that make a business 
of purchasing hatching eggs from raisers of 
purebred poultry, and hatching these eggs in 
mammoth incubators, selling the chicks as soon 
as hatched, in the manner described. 

Thus, the one interested in getting a start 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 19 

in poultry has an option on either of these 
three ways. The local circumstances .of the 
purchaser will largely determine which method 
will be the best. But which ever method is 
used, let me caution you that too much care 
can not be given in finding a source that is 
perfectly honorable in their business dealings, 
as there has been in the past a considerable 
amount of unfair dealing on the part of some 
dealers in the poultry business, but I am glad 
to say that these people are fast being weeded 
out, and the tendency is now for honest, up¬ 
right dealings in all three branches of the in¬ 
dustry, as the dishonest people have found that 
their methods forced them out of the business. 
Not everybody will be independent of the in¬ 
cubator, however, so we will next discuss some¬ 
thing in regard to the commercial incubator, 
also including and comparing the natural in¬ 
cubation of the egg. 

CHAPTER IV. 

INCUBATION 

In order to get a better idea of artificial in¬ 
cubation, let us first examine a few facts con¬ 
cerning the way in which the hen hatches her 


20 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

eggs in the natural process. The fertile egg 
is hatched when the egg is subjected to a heat 
over 100 degrees, F., for a period of about 
twenty-one days. The mother hen, by setting 
on the eggs for this period, will bring off her 
hatch on the twenty-first day, if she has been 
given ordinary care. Let us see what are the 
principles involved in this natural incubation, 
that we may the better understand the arti¬ 
ficial method of incubation. 

When the hen first becomes broody, and 
wants to sit, she might try to “steal her nest.” 
This is another way of saying that she will try 
to locate some secluded spot, and after she has 
succeeded in laying a dozen or fifteen eggs, 
she will then spend nearly her entire time on 
the nest, until she proudly marches back to .her 
old haunts with a small clutch of chickens. 

0 

It is a natural instinct of most hens to be¬ 
come broody in the spring of the year,- to re¬ 
produce their kind. A constant desire to sit 
on the nest is a sure sign of broodiness. When 
one has the eggs to put under the hen to hatch, 
it is best first to try to secure a general pur¬ 
pose bird for this method, as they have been 
found the best, for reasons previously stated. 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 21 

Now let us prepare a nest for the bird, so 
that she will have a good opportunity to do her 
best work. We can either partition off a part 
of the chicken house, or we can fix up a nest 
in another building entirely, such as a garage, 
barn, or any other building that we may have 
on the premises. Next let us take some soil, 
and make a round nest, over a foot in diameter, 
and four or five inches deep. Then we will 
dig out the center of the nest, so as to make 
it hollow in the middle, leaving at least two 
inches depth in the center. Then we will cover 
this earth with a few inches of cut straw, shav¬ 
ings, or leaves, and press this covering down 

^ • 

to conform to the shape of the soil founda¬ 
tion. We can now place our eggs for hatching 

H 

in the nest, and put the bird on them. How¬ 
ever, best results will be obtained if we wait 
until towards evening before we place the bird 
on the nest, as she will be more contented 
then. Take the bird that you have chosen 
and place her gently upon the nest of eggs. 
If she is at all broody, she will be quite con¬ 
tented when she feels the eggs underneath her, 
and settle down to business at once. The hen 
should spend practically all of the next three 


22 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

weeks upon the nest, the only time that she 
should be allowed to leave being the short 
time that she takes food and water twice a 
day. Having a quiet place, and giving her 
nourishment twice a day, she will be quite con¬ 
tented. The hen does not need any special 
ration during this time, other than one that is 
fairly heating. Corn is excellent during this 
* period, supplemented with a few other grains, 
such as oats, wheat, etc. A sufficient amount 
of fresh water should be available, together 
with some kind of green food, if possible, such 
as cabbage or mangoes. The hatch will not be 
endangered by the hen leaving the nest to eat. 
In fact, it is beneficial to the eggs to be tem¬ 
porarily cooled, at lea^t once a day, while the 
hen Is off the nest for a while. 

The hen has a habit of turning the eggs 
under her every day, not only removing their 
position from the center to the outside, and 
vica versa, but also turning them over, so that 
perhaps the part of the egg. that was in con¬ 
tact with the nest one day, will be in contact 
with the hen’s body the next day. Or,, in other 
words, she turns it half way around. These 
are all peculiarities that we have to imitate in 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 23 

artificial incubation, if we would be success¬ 
ful. Now that we have seen th'e process of the 
natural method of incubation, let us see how 
the ingenuity of man has successfully imi¬ 
tated the mother hen, and made possible the 
hatching of a far greater number of chicks than 
the hen can naturally hatch. 

In the first place, there are a great many 
incubators on the market, some being made to 
sell, and others being made to use. How shall 
we determine the make to buy? That is not 
the easiest question in the world, if one has 
had no previous experience with incubators. 
Do not necessarily buy the incubator that is 
advertised the most. Sometimes incubator 
companies have to advertise extensively to do 
a sufficient volume of business. The safest 
way to choose an incubator, if you really in¬ 
tend to purchase one, is to get the advice of 
some one who is using one, and has had success 
with the machine that he has used. Some of 
the cheaper makes have the trouble of too vary¬ 
ing a temperature, especially during the night. 
If one has-to arise five or six times a night 
for three weeks to regulate the lamp to main¬ 
tain a constant temperature, then the incubator 


24 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

is more bother than it is worth. Therefore, 
find out the makes of incubators that are giv¬ 
ing satisfaction in your own community, if you 
are intending to purchase one, and then send 
for one of a similar make. However, if you 
have not enough eggs to warrant purchasing 
one, then try to arrange with someone to loan 
you one, or to put your eggs in with some 
of theirs, so as to eliminate this expense. 

There are in general two types of incubators, 
the hot water and the hot air, the latter being 
quite the more popular of the two. There are 
seval different sizes of incubators, ranging from 
a fifty egg capacity up to a thousand egg ca¬ 
pacity machine. An incubator with a hundred 
egg capacity is usually sufficiently large enough 
for the small poultry keeper. By running three 
or four hatches during the same season, a good 
number of chicks can be hatched. 

There are a few requirements that must be 
fulfilled to realize the best results from an 
incubator. First and foremost, always follow 
the instructions that come with the incubator. 
The manufacturers of the incubator know more 
about their incubator than you do. Another 
thing that should be borne in mind is that you 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 25 

must not expect every egg that is placed in the 
incubator to produce a chick. A very good 
hatch is about 75 per cent. Of course, this 
varies considerably, ranging all the way from 
nothing to as high as sometimes 100 per cent. 
Usually one can reasonably expect as high as 
a 60 per cent hatch, at least, and very often 
it goes considerably higher, according to the 
conditions under which it is run. 

Moisture is a prime essential for the proper 
running of an incubator, and this should be 
provided for. If possible, arrange to run the 
incubator in a cellar, or some damp place. This 
can be aided, by springling water on the floor, 
etc. Care must be exercised in running the in¬ 
cubator that fire is guarded against, and some 
insurance companies make special provisions 
in their policies for such occasions, and make 
a slightly higher charge for their policies, be¬ 
cause of the danger. 

Another essential condition for a successful 
hatch with the incubator is proper ventilation. 
Most machines are provided with something 
for the admission of fresh air. It is also neces¬ 
sary that the room containing the incubator be 
aired frequently to admit fresh air, but not in 


26 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

such a manner that the eggs will become 
chilled, or that too much air will be admitted 
so as to carry off the moisture. Most incu¬ 
bators carry proper directions so as to provide 
against this danger. 

The third condition necessary for proper run¬ 
ning of the incubator is the maintenance of a 
constant temperature. It is usually advisable 
to have the temperature about 102 degrees F. 
the first week, 103 degrees the second week, 
and 104 degrees the third week. Any serious 
deviation from 103 degrees will result in a poor 
hatch. ' 

Now, then we will conclude this chapter with 
a few pointers on running the incubator dur¬ 
ing the hatching period. It is always well to 
run the incubator a day or two empty, so as to 
get the idea of how to best maintain the re¬ 
quired temperature. Clean the lamp thoroughly 
before running, and then during the hatch, al¬ 
ways tend to the lamp after the eggs have 
been turned, and never before, because if the 
hands are smeared with kerosene, some of this 
is bound to be left on the shells, which will re¬ 
sult in a poor hatch. Do not allow the lamp 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 27 

to be in a draft, and clean the wick every day, 
so as to prevent the lamp from smoking. 

• After the first few days, the eggs should 
be turned at least once a day, and even better, 
•twice a day. This is to imitate the mother hen, 
who does this on the nest. If the eggs are not 
turned, then the embryo of the chick will ad¬ 
here to the shell of the egg, and either die, 
or be crippled beyond hope. 

We must imitate the mother hen again in the 
artificial incubation of chicks, in regard to 
cooling. We saw in the previous chapter, how 
the hen leaves her nest occasionally to take 
food and water, with no ill effects on the hatch. 
Likewise we must cool the eggs in the incu¬ 
bator. This can usually best be accomplished 
while turning the eggs. Five or ten minutes 
a day are usually sufficient for the proper cool¬ 
ing, unless it is near the end of the hateh, 
when twenty or thirty minutes can be used 
for this purpose with safety. 

On the seventh and the fourteenth day, it is 
a good plan to test the eggs in the incubator, 
so that the infertile eggs may be removed. 
This is done by a process known as candling. 
Hold each egg up in front of a light and note 


28 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

the appearance of the interior of the egg. This 
can be done “by making a hole in a box, that 
will fit over a light or lamp, and then holding * 
the eggs up to the light, showing through the 
hole, which should be in line with the flame. 
If the egg appears clear, free from any dark 
spots, then the egg can be taken out of the 
incubator,, as it is not fertile, and will not 
hatch. However, if the egg shows a dark spot, 
about the size of a bean, and you can detect 
small blood vessels running from it, then you 
may be assured that the egg is coming along in 
good shape, and will hatch out in due time. 

With these points well in mind, one will 
have little difficulty in properly running an in¬ 
cubator, providing he has a reliable machine 
to begin with. Of the matters considered in 
this chapter, probably the most important fac¬ 
tor of all is the constant maintenance of a uni¬ 
form temperature. Now, then, let us consider 
that the chicks are pipping the shells and are 
ready to start out in life. We will therefore 
consider the care of the chicks in the next 
chapter, until they are able to care for them¬ 
selves. 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 


29 


CHAPTER V. 

BROODING 

Whether we hatched the eggs by means of an 
incubator, or bought the day-old chicks, if we 
have no mother hen to care for the chicks 
after they are hatched, we must take care of 
them ourselves. This is called the | brooding 
period. Unless the hatch is quite late, which, 
by the way, is not desirable, we will have to 
arrange to supply some cheap, simple form of 
artificial heat, to prevent the young chickens 
from getting chilled. This is accomplished in 
several different ways, but we will only dis¬ 
cuss the more common ways here. 

There are several different makes of ready¬ 
made brooders on the market, but one can in 
a few hours spare time, construct a brooder 
that will answer the purpose. The chief part 
of the brooder is the source of heat. Usually 
these heaters can be bought for a few dollars, 
and placed in a good box supplied with a little 
litter on the bottom. 

A common arrangement with brooder equip- 

* 


30 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

merits is to have two compartments, one where 
a hover is placed, and the rest of the brooder 
constituting a run for the chicks. The two 
compartments are usually partitioned off from 
each other, allowing just enough room at the 
bottom of the partition to allow the chicks to 
pass from one compartment to the other. In 
the hover compartment is placed the heater, 
and a metal canopy, so that the heat will be 
held down close to the floor, where the chicks 
are located. At first, the chicks should be con¬ 
fined to this hover entirely, because they are 
liable to get lost if they wander away from the 
hover, and consequently die from chilling. The 
temperature of the hover compartment during 
the first week should be about 96 degrees F., 
and each succeeding week it should be lowered, 
by at least two degrees. This can be done by 
controlling the lamp, or what ever heater is 
used, or by gradually raising or lowering the 
canopy over the chicks. This method gradually 
toughens the chicks up, so that they can soon 
be let out doors. After the first week or so, 
they should be encouraged to get out into the 
other compartment for exercise, as this will 
aid in making them hardy. After the first few 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT SI 

weeks of the life of the chicks are past, they 
will need less care and attention. These first 
few weeks are the critical weeks of the bird’s 
life. After the chicks get accustomed to the 
temperature out in the run of the brooder, it 
is advisable to cut a small hole at the run end 
of the brooder box, so that on pleasant days 
they can run outside on the ground around the 
brooder. In this case, however, they must not 
be allowed to run very far at first, and only 
for a short while until they gradually become 
accustomed to the practice. 

Another important consideration in raising 
the young chick to maturity is the matter of 
food. Probably no other thing is responsible 
for such a high mortality in young chicks, as 
is improper feeding. We have learned in a 
previous chapter that it is exceedingly danger¬ 
ous to feed the chick anything ^n the line of 
food for the first two days of its life. Many 
people are afraid the chicks will die if not fed 
immediately after hatching, and hasten to feed 
the chick all that it will eat. Unless the chick 
is endowed with a wonderful digestive system, 
it will succumb to this over-feeding through 
digestive disorders. It is permissable to put 


32 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

a little grit before the chick at this time, be¬ 
cause the chick has no teeth, and never will 
have, so they eat the grit, and this grit passes 
down to the gizzard, which grinds the food in 
place of grinding with the teeth, as with other 
animals. Fresh water is also good for the chick 
during this period, as the water quenches their 
thirst, and makes them livelier. Towards the 
end of the second day, it is well to feed the 
chick a little sour skim milk, or buttermilk. 
Sour milk is superior to the sweet milk for two 
reasons. First, the sour skim milk has bacteria 
that aid in digestion, and secondly, it will be 
found that it will be hard to keep the milk 
sweet all the time, and by feeding sweet milk 
part of the time, and then letting it become 
sour, digestive troubles are liable to develop. 
Hence, by having it sour all the time, no danger 
from this source will be experienced. , 

Now, we are ready to consider what kind of 
grain we shall feed the chick. On the third 
day we can start to feed a little grain. What 
is known as pinhead oatmeal is very good to 
start the young chick out on. Some feed hard 
boiled eggs .and dried bread for the first feed¬ 
ing with good results. It is important to note 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 33 

that only enough of this first solid food should 
be fed that they can clean up in a short time. 
Keep them hungry, and remember that it is 
much safer to under feed than to over feed. 

For the next week, or so, a scratch ration, 
composed of cracked corn, pinhead oatmeal, 

I 

cracked wheat, together with a little grit, and 
finely ground oyster shells can be fed. This 
can be fed in the litter, so that the chicks have 
to exercise to get it. In fact, that is just what 
we mean by a scratching ratiop; one composed 
of whole or cracked grains, mixed in with the 
litter, so that the chicks will have to scratch 
for their feed, and thereby obtain the exer¬ 
cise necessary to their health. If a little green 
fed of any kind can be added, so much the 
better. Green grass is excellent to throw into 
the chicks. 

After two weeks or more of this kind of feed, 
it is well to supplement this ration with a dry 
mash. A dry mash is a feed composed of 
ground feeds, that require no work on the part 
of the bird to grind. Feeds like wheat bran, 
ground oats, corn meal, etc., are good examples 
of such feeds. Wheat bran is especially well 
liked by these young birds, and it is r^com- 


34 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

mended that they be allowed to have this as a 
large part of their dry mash. This feed should 
not be fed in tl\e litter, as the cracked grains, 
but placed in some such container as a pan, or 
better still, in a regular feed hopper. It can 
readily be seen that if this finely ground grain 
was scattered in the litter, it would be largely 
lost and wasted. Also, if put in a pan, the pan 
must be low enough to be accessible to the 
birds, and covered over in such a manner that 
the chicks will not get in and walk around 
in it. A homemade hopper can be easily built, 
so that the chicks can just get their heads in, 
and no more. Do not forget that the sour skim 
milk or buttermilk must be- fed all this time. 
In fact, this part of the feed should be fed 
right through the bird’s life, as it supplies the 
animal protein, which is so necessary.to the 
proper development of the bird’s growth. 

Now, then, just a few more words in closing 
this chapter on brooding. We should aim to 
toughen the birds up as quickly as possible, 
so that when they are about two months old, 
no artificial heat will be necessary, and if the 
birds are of a late hatch, this can be accom¬ 
plished much sooner. Encourage them to get 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 35 

out of doors as quickly as possible, and to get 
green feed. 

A very serious cause of death among young 
chickens is from disease. White diarrhoea is 
probably one of the most common of these 
diseases, and unfortunately, one of the most 
fatal. If the droppings are of a white, watery 
nature, with an offensive odor, you may well 
believe that this disease is present, and the 
thing to do is to get the birds thus affected 
out of the way at once, and disinfect with some 
good disinfectant. However, if the precautions 
are taken that are set ’forth in this booklet, no 
danger of this dreaded disease can be antici¬ 
pated 

Now that we have got the chicks along 
through the brooding period, let us next con¬ 
sider just how we shall raise these chicks to 
maturity, so as to get them ready to lay eggs, 
or to make a good meat carcass. 

CHAPTER VI. 

REARING CHICKS TO MATURITY. 

One of the chief things to remember in rais¬ 
ing young chicks to maturity is that we must 
keep them growing at all times. A check in 


36 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

their growth will retard their growth severely, 
and this must be avoided by the one that wants 
his chicks to get into winter laying condition 
before the cold weather comes. We will now 
consider a few important factors that are neces¬ 
sary to bring our chicks along to rapid growth. 

Of course, where free, unrestricted range is 
possible, the 'chicks will progress faster than 
when cooped up in a small yard. If no free 
range is possible, it will be found advantageous 
to at least let the chicks run about the yard of 
the lot. In this manner, they can pick up con¬ 
siderable food in the shape of worms, insects, 
etc., that will furnish valuable growing food for 
them. Let me repeat again the necessity of 
having milk in some form as a constituent of 
the chicks’ food. Any food that comes from an 
animal, whether it be milk or a part of the 
animal itself, is highly essential to the growth 
of the chick. Such foods contain an element 
known as vitamines, which scientists have re¬ 
cently discovered contribute greatly to the 
growth and upkeep of a growing animal. Vita- 
mines are also found to some extent in green 
feeds, such as carrots, cabbages, mangoes, etc. 
Even well cured alfalfa hay contains this im- 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 37 

portant element. It is quite obvious, therefore, 
that if the chicks are out roaming around the 
yard or range, they not only secure the exer¬ 
cise that is necessary for their proper develop¬ 
ment, but they also pick up insects, as has 
been mentioned, and considerable green feed, 
such as grass, weeds, and various other odds 
and ends. 

If a fair sized lot or range is to be had, then 
it will be found a great aid to make a little 
house for the chicks to live in during the 
nights on the range, although care must be ex¬ 
ercised that they be protected from enemies, 
such as rats, crows, skunks, weasels, owls, etc. 
Such a house need not be expensive at all if 
it be made out of an old packing box that will 
protect the chicks from rain and enemies. 

Another quite essential feature for the pro- , 
motion of the maximum growth of the chicks 
during the warm summer months is the pro¬ 
vision for shade. If there are some trees about 
the yard or range, this will answer the pur¬ 
pose satisfactorily, but if there are no trees 
where the chicks roam, then some artificial 
shade is advised. Some people plant corn for 
this purpose, allowing the chicks to range 


38 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

among the corn plants when the corn has grown 
sufficiently high. The chicks will not harm 
the corn, so two ends can be accomplished by 
this means. Others provide this shade by 
gathering old brush together and making an 
artificial shade in this manner. During the hot 
days of summer, the chicks will suffer from the 
heat to a marked degree if exnosed to the hot 
rays of the sun. An ideal method used on many 
farms is to place the chicks in the orchard, 
where there is an orchard, and let the chicks 
roam in the shade of the orchard trees. 

Where birds are necessarily confined to a 
small yard, one method that has been worked 
out satisfactorily, is to fence the yard off into 
two or more divisions, and to plow up the land. 
Then various crops can be sown at different 
intervals, so that when one range, or division, 
is consumed by the chicks, they can be turned 
into another division where the forage crop is 
up and ready to be consumed. As soon as the 
chicks are turned out of the first lot, this lot 
can be immediately plowed up again, and some 
more seeds planted, so that this range will be 
ready for the chicks when the second lot fur¬ 
nishes no more nourishment for them. It might 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 39 

be added here that many town flocks of full 
grown birds are maintained, by this very sys¬ 
tem, and it has worked out very nicely. Such 
grains as buckwheat, rye, oats, peas, and soy 
beans are all excellent crops to sow in this 
manner, using oats and peas for the first crop, 
because they mature quicker than the other 
crops mentioned. 

If the chicks have access to a fair amount 
of range they will not need a great deal of 
grain as a ration. However, it is always ad¬ 
visable to feed some grains to keep the birds 
continually growing as fast as possible. It 
has been proved conclusively that the . first 
gains made by the growing chicks are the 
cheapest, in regard to the cost of feed, so let 
us keep this in mind during the time when 
we have them on range. To accomplish this 
end, it is well to have a dry mash of the kind 
of grains that are fairly rich in the substance 
called protein always available in the hopper. 
The reason for this need of protein feed is 
simply that the growing bird uses this element 
largely in the growth of its body. Protein goes 

to make up the bony framework of the body, 
and the muscles, tendons, etc. Therefore, feeds 


40 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

containing protein, or a fair amount of it at 
least, should be ground up, and kept before the 
birds. Oats, bran, or middlings, wheat and 
barley, are all fairly rich in protein, and some 
of these feeds, in a finely ground condition, 
should be included. It is also well to add some 
corn meal, although this feed is not high in 
protein, it supplies a great amount of energy 
for the bird to move around with. As soon as 
the birds are old enough commence to feed 
cracked grains. As has been said in a pre¬ 
vious chapter, the bird ha$ no teeth, so must 
rely upon grit to grind this feed in the gizzard. 

Therefore, unless the birds have a wide 

a 

range, this grit must be artificially' supplied. 
Then the birds can help themselves to their 
needs, and suffer no digestive troubles. Fresh 
water must be before the birds at all times, 
and if no natural source is available, such as 
a running stream or brook, then fresh water 
must be placed in some sanitary container out 
in the yard or range. 

. From four to six months from the time the 
chick is hatched, it should be ready to start lay¬ 
ing eggs. The chick first has to get its growth 
and maturity, and then there is an apparent 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 41 

resting period for a few weeks, to allow the 

* 

organs of the bird to get ready for egg produc¬ 
tion. We will next consider how we shall feed 
these birds, granting that we now have them 
ready to produce the eggs. 

CHAPTER VII. 

FEEDING FOR EGG PRODUCTION 

As has been said in an earlier chapter, to 
get the maximum egg production, three things 
are essential. They are: good foundation stock, 
proper housing, and proper feeding. We may 
have the best chicken house in the world, and 
the highest priced stock obtainable, but if we 
do not feed our birds the right kind of food, 
all our other efforts are in vain. Let us con¬ 
sider first a few facts concerning the compo¬ 
sition of the egg, and then we will be able to 
understand more intelligently why we should 
feed the laying bird these certain feeds. 

About 14 per cent of the composition of the 
egg is protein, 10 per cent fat, and the re¬ 
mainder, except the shell, is water. Now it 
must be remembered that the ordinary protein 
supply of most food materials is relatively low. 


42 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

Corn contains about 7 per cent digestible pro¬ 
tein, oats and barley about 9' per cent, and bran 

I 

about 12 per cent. The roughages are consid¬ 
erably lower, while green feeds carry about 
one or two per cent protein. From this we can 
get an idea about the necessity of watching the 
feeding to the extent that this valuable con¬ 
stituent is sufficiently supplied. Furthermore, 
the hen that is producing these eggs needs a 
fair amount of this protein for further growth 
and body upkeep. Another point worth remem¬ 
bering is the fact that the bird, or any other 
animal, through natural instinct, always sees 
to it that the first requirement, that of bodily 
growth and upkeep are maintained first .with 
the food they are given, so that to get the most 
from the birds, let us not hold them down to 
just a maintenance ration, but give them 
enough in addition so .that they can not only 
maintain their body requirements properly, but 
also have enough food material to yield a 
product. 

The ration for the laying hen should consist 
of the two forms of grain; first, the whole or 
cracked grains that comprise the scratch ration, 
and which should always be thrown in the 


c ; 

POULTRY FOR PROFIT 43 

Titter, so that they will have to exercise to get 
it, and second, the dry mash, or a mixture of 
various grains that are ground up and fed in 
hoppers. As has been stated before, this grind¬ 
ing of the feed is simply to make it easily di¬ 
gestible. Furthermore, such finely ground 
grains usually contain a higher percentage of 
protein than the other grains. By this is meant 
that feeds like bran, oilmeal, etc., are quite a 
bit higher in protein than are grains like corn, 
wheat, barley, etc. 

The next important feed requirement for the 
laying hen should be a mineral feed of some 
kind. With many farm and city flocks this im¬ 
portant consideration is entirely ignored. Many 
times the reason for poor egg production rests 
solely in the lack of proper mineral foods. 
When it is considered that about 12 per cent 
of the entire egg is composed of shell material, 
it can readily be seen that the feeding of this 
material is important, and worthy of attention. 
We can give the laying bird all the rich feeds 
that we can buy, but if we withhold from her 
the material that goes to form the shell, then 
the bird will be unable to lay her eggs because 
she has no shell to cover the egg. There are 


44 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

different sources of mineral food, but all au¬ 
thorities are agreed that oyster shells form the 
most economical source of shell material. These 
oyster shells can be bought at grocery stores, 
or poultry supply houses. This material should 
’be placed in a box or, better still, a hopper, 
where it will be accessible to the birds at all 
times. Clam shells, lime rock grit, and dry 
bone in small sizes are other sources of mineral 
matter, and possibly even better results can 
be obtained by adding a small quantity of these 
other feeds to the oyster shells, but plan to 
have oyster shells as the basis of the mineral 
supply. Charcoal is sometimes fed to chickens 
with good results. Some birds eat this, while 
others will not. It is claimed that charcoal 
aids in regulating the digestive system of the 
fowl. One can try this out to satisfy his own 
ideas in this regard. 

Animal feed is the next class of feeds that 
we will consider in the feeding of our laying 
flock. It is the testimony of poultrymen that * 
when they hang up a fresh piece of meat in 
the poultry house, such as a part of a calf, an 
old horse, rabbit, or any other such carcass, the 
birds always respond with a much higher yield 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 45 

in egg production. This simply reinforces the 
statement made in a previous chapter, that 
animal protein of some kind is needed by the 
birds if they are to do their best. If meat is 
supplied, care must be exercised that it does 
not spoil before it is consumed. It is better 
to put in small pieces at a time, so that the 
birds will eat it up quickly. If this meat can 
be run through a grinder of some kind, it will 
be eaten much more readily than if it has to 
be torn to pieces by the birds. Milk of some 
kind is also an animal protein, as has been re¬ 
peated here several times. Meat meal or tank¬ 
age contains a high percentage of protein, and 
as this is an animal product, it is an economical 
feed. 

Water is our last class of feeds for the lay¬ 
ing hen. This can be supplied in two ways. 
The first way is from the water direct, placed 
in some kind of a pan that is covered so that 
the birds can not soil the water, by perching 
on the edge of the pan, etc. Fresh water should 
be before the birds at all times, as we have 
just learned a few pages back that about 65 
per cent of the egg is composed of water. Be¬ 
sides this, the birds need water for their body 


46 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

requirements. In the winter when the birds 
spend practically all of their time in the poultry 
house, and can not have the opportunity of 
picking up grass, and other green feeds, we 
can supply water to them in the form of some 
kind of green feeds, such as sprouted oats, 
cabbages, mangoes, or any other vegetables to 
be had. All these feeds are to be recommended 
highly, as they not only are composed largely 
of water, but add bulk to the ration, and aid 
in keeping the bird laxative. Sprouted oats can 
be raised in shallow pans, and given to the 
birds in small quantities at a time. It is usu¬ 
ally advisable to have several pans Of sprouting 
oats say, for instance, one for every day in the 
week, so that a fresh supply can be given to 
the birds every morning. Nearly every supply 
house has patent oat sprouters to sell at reason¬ 
able prices. Cabbages and mangoes are also 
fed extensively to the laying birds during the 
winter months, but provision must be made 
before hand to raise them in the summer, and 
to properly store them in the fall, so that they 
will be fresh when taken out of storage for feed¬ 
ing. One very good way to do this is to pile 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 47 

them together in a basement ^nd cover them 
with sand. 

Let us next consider a few practical grain 
rations, that have been tried out by success¬ 
ful poultry men. These rations are always 
classified as scratch rations and dry mash ra¬ 
tions. One very good ration is as follows: 
Scratch Feed, 3 parts cracked corn, 1 part 
wheat, 1 part oats, 1 part barley. Dry mash, 
iy 2 part bran, 1 y 2 part middlings, 1 part corn 
meal, 1 part meat scraps or tankage. Another 
very good practical ration is composed as fol¬ 
lows: Scratch feed, 3 parts corn, 1 part oats, 
and 1 part barley. Dry mash, one part each of 

bran, middlings, ground corn, ground oats and 

* 

meat scraps. These feeds should always be 
measured by weight, and not by bulk. 

Now, then, just a few words in regard to 
the feeding of these grains. Always send the 
birds to roost with full crops. This is espe¬ 
cially important during cold weather. It is 
much better if they be allowed to fill up on 
scratch grain rather than dry mash. The_ 
scratch ration is more bulky than the mash 
feed, and helps in keeping the bird warm. In 
fact, many successful poultry men close the 


48 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

hopper of their dry mash ration during the 
afternoon, and thus make the birds take the 
scratch feed in the litter, thereby encouraging 
the birds to obtain exercise, also. 

We will close this chapter with a brief dis¬ 
cussion on a recent development in the system 
of feeding birds. This is in regard to the in¬ 
troduction of artificial light. This practice has 
successfully passed beyond the “fad” stage and 
is now being used by successful poultry men 
all over the country. By supplying this extra 
light, the working day is thereby lengthened to 
the extent that the light is prolonged, and con¬ 
sequently, gives the bird a day similar to a 
summer day in length. Th$ birds, by having 
this extra period of light, work just that much 
longer, and as a result, they are able to make 
more eggs. Everywhere this system has been 
given a trial, it has been found a paying propo¬ 
sition. One very common method in supplying 
this light is by connecting the alarm clock to 
the electric lighting system and setting the 
alarm at a period around four or five o’clock in 
the morning. This throws on the light in the 
chicken house, and then when the owner arises 
in the morning, he can go out and turn out the 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 4$ 

lights if it is light enough to do so by that 
time. 

Thus we have considered the main points in 
feeding for egg production. While we have 
some of these important feeding principles still 
fresh in our mind, let us in the next chapter 
consider feeding birds for their flesh, because 
one very important part of the poultry business 
lies in the feeding of birds for meat. In the 
ordinary flock of birds, there are always some 
that we want to dispose of, such as the male 
birds and the culls of the females. If we know 
how to fatten these, we will be that much 
better off financially. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

FEEDING FOR MEAT PRODUCTION 

The primary object in feeding birds for the 
market is to get them well covered with flesh, 
so that they will be plump all over. It is the 
difference in the weight of the bony skeleton 
and the weight of the well filled out carcass 
that determines the amount of edible meat on 
the bird. Hence our object in this process is 
to put on as much surplus flesh as we can. 


50 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

Usually there are three classes of birds that 
are put on the market for meat purposes. They 
are roasters, broilers, and old hens. Roasting * 
chickens are very common on the market, and 
the object is large size with a tender carcass. 
These can be either pullets or cockerels, or 
capons. They are often put on the market dur¬ 
ing the late fall or early winter, and bring the 
highest prices at that time. 

Broilers are'birds about three or four months 
old, forced along to a rapid growth, but still 
possessing tender flesh. This offers an excel¬ 
lent way of disposing of the male birds, since 
usually the sex of the young birds can be’dis¬ 
tinguished at about two months of age. 

Old hens constitute the third division of the 
meat classes placed upon the market, and are 
generally composed of those birds that are 
through laying, or the ones that have been 
found to be unprofitable. Their meat is usually 
much tougher than the first two mentioned 
classes, and consequently used in city restaur¬ 
ants for meat pies, etc. 

In fattening birds for the market, a some- 
.what different procedure is followed than in 
feeding for egg production We found that in 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 51 

feeding for egg production we encouraged the 
birds in every way possible to take all the ex¬ 
ercise that they could get. We do just the 
opposite in putting flesh on the birds. We re¬ 
strict their exercise as much as possible, and 
pen them up in small quarters so that their 
feed largely goes to nothing but putting flesh 
on their bodies. It can easily be seen that 
when birds are roaming around, exercising 
more or less all day long, that there is little 
chance for them to get very fat. 

Now as to the nature of the feed for fatten¬ 
ing these birds. We will still need some pro¬ 
tein feeds, but not as much as in the case of 
feeding for eggs. However, we will need feeds 
which are quite rich in carbohydrates and fat. 
These are easily obtained and are relatively 
cheap. Corn is an excellent ration for this 
purpose. 

Since the birds are confined to small pens, 
and exercise restricted, it becomes evident that 
digestion becomes an important factor here. 
Therefore, it is advisable to have plenty of 
grit before the birds at all times, so that their 
food will be properly ground. 

We must not get the idea, just because we 


« 


52 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

are feeding for flesh, that the birds should be 
stuffed to their limit with feed. To do so, 
would be to have a lot of the birds off feed, 
and consequently we would be worse off than 
not to feed them enough. l£ is best to plan to 
feed them about three times a day, and to 
feed them all that they will clean up in a 
certain length of time, as from twenty minutes 
to half an hour. Some are successful in feed¬ 
ing only twice a day, instead of three times a 
day. 

Corn is usually the basis of fattening rations 
and should always have a prominent place in 
the ration. Here again, milk in some form is 
excellent to supply some of the protein that 
is needed. Corn must be supplemented by 
other grains, such as oats, barley or middlings, 
provided they are in a finely ground condition. 
Some feeders follow the plan of feeding part 
of these grains in the form of a wet mash, 
using the skim milk to moisten the mash, 
but when this is done, care must be exercised 
in seeing that the mash is cleaned up at every 
feeding, otherwise the trough will become 
mouldy, with bad results to the birds. 

There has'come into use within recent years 

« 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 53 

a method of fattening birds by what is known 
as crate fattening. This is practiced consid¬ 
erably by some of the big packing companies. 
The birds are bought up from the surrounding 
territory and brought into the central fattening 
station. They are then placed in small pens, 
or batteries, as they are called, and fed a 
ration composed largely of skim milk and corn 
meal, with a few other feeds added, such as 
red dog flour, bran, etc. This is mixed into 
a thin, pasty feedj and fed the birds from a 
trough running along in front of the pens. 
They are fed this way for a period of two 
weeks or more, and are then taken out, dressed, 
and sold to the big city markets as milk fed 
chickens, and always bring several cents a 
pound more on the market than other poultry, 
because of the tenderness of the flesh. In this 
process, even greater care must be exercised 
in watching the feeding of the birds, and only 
feed that they will clean up in about fifteen 
or twenty minutes. 

Crate feeding has appealed to many town lot 
poultry men, who have bought up culls of the 
neighboring territory, put them in small crates 
or pens, and fed them this milk feed for a 


54 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

few weeks and then marketed them, securing 
the top prices on the market. 

We have now discussed the most important 
items connected with the feeding of the birds 
for various purposes. Let us now examine the 
living quarters of the birds, and see if we can 
improve the housing conditions in which the 
birds live during the winter months. 

CHAPTER IX. 

COMMON FAULTS OF POULTRY HOUSES 

If you were to take a trip through the sur 
rounding country, with the intention of in¬ 
specting the living quarters of farm poultry, 
in general, you would discover some of the most 
wretched houses imaginable. All of our in¬ 
telligent feeding would be of little use if we 
penned our chickens up in a coop with little 
sunlight, poor ventilation, cold, damp floors, 
drafty sides, and foul, damp air. It doesn’t 
cost any more to build a poultry house with 
correct principles involved, than it does to 
build one that lacks these essential features. 
The birds care very little about the appearance 
of the house. They want fresh dry air, free- 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 55 

dom from drafts, a warm floor, and plenty of 
sunshine. 

One of the most common faults with most 
poultry houses is the matter of ventilation. 
When poultry raising was first looked upon as 
a promising business, many men erected houses 
y containing a large proportion of glass. It was 
though that the sunshine was the only neces¬ 
sary feature for the birds, under Winter condi¬ 
tions, and they made their chicken houses 
veritable hot houses. But the results were not 

as had been anticipated. It was found that 

• 

while the houses were fairly warm ih the day 
time, they cooled off considerable at night, and 
poor results were obtained from this wide range 
between the day temperature and the night 
temperature. Then another step was taken by 
these pi.oneers. They decided to heat their 
houses artificially. But even this system did 
not bring forth the big yield of eggs that had. 
been hoped • for. In all this expensive pro¬ 
cedure, a very important element had Peen 
overlooked, and that was the matter of fresh 
air. 

About twenty years ago, there was devised 
a poultry house that was a radical departure 


56 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

from this previous type of house. It was called 
the open front house, and gave surprisingly 
good results, where all previous types had 
failed, as regards egg production. This house 
was constructed briefly as follows: It was of 
the shed roof type; that is, had just one slant 
in the roof, the highest pitch being in front, 
and the lowest pitch in the rear. It had plenty 
of window light in the front side, about half 
of the south side, or front, being devoted to 
windows. The rest of the front was left open, 
save for a • thin muslin curtain to cover the 
open space during bad weather. These cur¬ 
tains were tacked to wooden frames, and swung 
on hinges, so that they could be swung in to 
cover the open space at will. The most re¬ 
markable thing about the system was that the 
hens began to lay eggs, when proper feeding 
was obtained. Later, this led to the conclusion, 
now generally accepted, that the birds can 
stand considerable cold, providing it is not a 
damp cold, and that the temperature of the 
house is considerably more uniform between 
night and day than was the case with the glass 
house. 

As a result many poultrymen who are mak- 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 57 

ing money with poultry use some such system 
as the open front house with various changes. 
They have found that fresh air is an absolute 
requirement to get the best results. But this 
matter brought out a few more interesting facts. 
It was found that dampness was a big draw¬ 
back to egg production in cold weather. If the 
damp foul air, breathed out by the chickens, 
could not escape from the poultry building, the 
chickens did not have the health and vigor that 
they did in well ventilated houses. Conse¬ 
quently, the curtain helped considerably in al¬ 
lowing the fresh air to come in, and for the 
foul air to go out. The damp air, being heavily 
laden with moisture, settled to the bottom of 
the house, where the birds scratch, and unless 
the curtains extend fairly well down near the 
bottom of the house, the damp air has not a 
very good chance to escape, and consequently, 
there will be more or less moisture even with 
this type of house, if the damp air has no 
chance to escape. 

Another common fault with a great many 
poultry buildings is that they are drafty. The 
walls should all be air tight, except the south 
wall, or front, as has been mentioned. If 


58 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

there is a draft in the house the birds will 
contract a cold, and will take a prolonged va¬ 
cation from their job of laying eggs. It is 
not uncommon to find a crack in the wall, 
just behind the perches of the house, and when 
we consider that in such houses the birds stay 
all night in a direct draft, it is little wonder 
that they appear so unhealthy. 

There are a few other common faults that 
we will consider before bringing this chapter to 
a close. It is often found that there are too 
many birds cramped into a small house. It 
is a good plan to allow at leagt four square 
feet of floor sptoce for each bird that you win¬ 
ter. For instance, if we were planning on 
having one hundred birds this winter, we could 
have a house built twenty-five feet long, and 
sixteen feet deep. Multiplying these two fig¬ 
ures, gives us four hundred square feet. Di¬ 
viding this product by four, gives us allowance 
for one hundred birds. Then, lastly, the floor, 
itself. Too often the floor is cold. If a ce¬ 
ment floor, we should cover it with about six 
or eight inches of good, clean, dry litter. Even 
if made of wood, a good substantial litter should 
fce maintained. The best litter is probably of 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 59 

straw, but peat moss is fast gaining favor at 
present, where straw is not obtainable. With 
these few objections to guard against, let us 
next discuss just how we shall go about con¬ 
structing a poultry house that will overcome 
t^e faults mentioned. 

CHAPTER X. 

HOUSING POULTRY FOR PROFIT. 

In discussing plans for a modern poultry 
house,;let it be mentioned at the outset that 
this does not necessarily mean that our modern 
house will be expensive, any more than the one 
that is built on old ideas. In fact, many of 
the older houses were much more expensive 
than the modern houses of today. As long as 
the poultry building includes the necessary 
principles for the birds’ well-being, and this can 
be accomplished with little added expense, 
that is all that is necessary. 

In commenting upon the common faults of 
most poultry houses in the previous chapter, 
we found that they generally lack one, or all 

of such items as ventilation, dryness, sunlight, 

« 

adequate floor space,, protection from rats, 


60 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

protection from extremes of temperature, and 
simplicity of design. In arranging for a better 
house for our birds, let us plan to keep these 
factors in mind, so as to get the most from 
our birds. 

Whether we are to build a new poultry 
house, or to remodel an old one, we can design 
it so that all of these factors will be in evi¬ 
dence. If we have an old poultry house, or if 
we can buy cheaply an old poultry coop, that 
has fairly good lumber in it, we can probably 
do the remodeling somewhat cheaper than if 
we have to buy all new lumber. If we do pur¬ 
chase all new lumber, it is not advisable to get 
cheap lumber, but buy the first grade, because 
it is necessary that the walls of the house be 
air tight, and'this is seldom possible with cheap 
lumber. 

We will first consider briefly the possibilities 
of remodeling an old poultry house. Probably 
the first thing that we will do is to cut some 
openings in the front of the house for windows 
and curtains. From one-half to two-thirds 
of the front should be devoted to window 
lights. The remainder should be left for the 
muslin curtains to allow for fresh air to enter, 




POULTRY FOR PROFIT 61 

and for foul air to pass out. These should 
not be cut up too high, but start at least a 
foot below the roof, and have the window lights 
extend at least half way down the front of the 
house. The curtains should extend quite a bit 
further down to the bottom of the house, to 
allow the foul air sufficient opportunity to 
escape. 

We should next examine the other walls and 
roof to make sure that they are not drafty, 
nor leak water. Usually these walls can be 
patched up with other boards, or heavy roofing 
paper, so that no draft is possible. In north¬ 
ern climates, where weather below zero is 
common, best results will be obtained by hav¬ 
ing two thicknesses of walls, to protect against 
cold nights. Roofing paper is excellent to put 
between the two walls, or even on the outside 
to aid in this matter. If the roof leaks, it 
might be advisable to re-shingle part of it, 
and here again roofing paper helps in making 
it weather tight. 

We must next examine the floor. If a 
wooden floor, then it is advisable to raise the 
house up from the ground about six inches, 
supporting it with posts. Some people follow 


62 POUL/TRY iOR PROFIT 

the plan of placing old tin pans or plates up¬ 
side down at the top of these posts and then 
setting the house on, thereby eliminating the 
danger of rats, as the rats cannot climb over 
the tin pans. If the house is to be a perma¬ 
nent structure it will be found best to lay a 
concrete floor, as this floor will last for all. 
time, and will not need repairing. Such a floor 
is rat proof, but must be covered with a good 
litter. 

If a new house is to be constructed, then it 
will be best to follow the principles laid down 
for a remodeled house to the extent of the 
open front, weather tight walls and roof, good 
floor, and dry living conditions. Wood is the 
most popular material that is used in building 
chicken houses. Generally, 2 by 4s placed about 
two feet apart are used for studding. Matched 
lumber or rough lumber aided by battens or 
roofing paper compose the walls, this making 
them free from drafts. The matched lumber 
is generally placed on the studding horizontally. 
The lumber should be dry and free from knot 
holes, and well nailed together. 

< 

For the roof, shingles can be used, or some 
of the prepared roofing paper on the market 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 63 

now has given good results. For quite flat 
roofs, two or three ply roofing paper is pre¬ 
ferred to the shingles. 

We will now discuss the common types of 
poultry houses. The most popular type and 
the cheapest, is the shed roof house. This 
house is usually about eight feet high in front, 
slanting gradually to the rear to a height of 
about five feet. It just has one slant, and, as 
has been said, is cheaper to build than other 
types of houses. It is also much easier to keep 
warm in the winter, because of the low roof, 
which means less space has to be heated by 
the birds. Instead of curtain front houses in 
such a type of poultry house, many poultry 
men are using bafflers to let in the air. These 
bafflers are similar to a blind used to shade 
living houses in some parts of the country. 
They are composed of slats less than an inch 
apart, and placed in a slanting position, rather 
than vertical or horizontal. 

The gable roof house is another popular 
type. This differs from the shed roof type 
of house in that its roof comes to a peak, 
with two pitches, such as most modern bunga¬ 
low dwelling houses have. This sysiem leaves 


64 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

a larger space at the top of the house, and is 
not as warm as the shed roof type. It also 
costs more to build. However, it possesses the 
advantage of allowing a straw loft to be placed 
at the top of the house, which is an excellent 
way to get rid of excess moisture, when it can 
be expelled no other way. The straw has the 
power to absorb the excess moisture during the 
winter, but should be removed in the spring, 
as it furnishes an excellent hiding place for 
mites, an insect that we will discuss more 
thoroughly in a later chapter. 

The half monitor type is not so popular as 
the two types already named, and costs con¬ 
siderably more than either of the two previous 
types discussed. This type of house has an 
arrangement similar to two shed roof houses, 
facing each other, the rear house being some¬ 
what higher than the front house. Of course, 

♦ a *• 
such houses have their advantages, but for the 

one who would start with moderation in the 
poultry business, the shed roof, or the gable 
roof type will be far more attractive. We have 
discussed the types of houses in this chapter. 
The fixtures, or chicken furniture, has so far 
been omitted. Let us go inside of our modern 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 65 

chicken house now, and see what is needed in 
the line of equipment to complete our efficient 
egg production. 

CHAPTER XL 

INTERIOR FIXTURES FOR THE LAYING HOUSES 

There are certain devices that save a great 
deal of labor for the poultry man, and also 
give the birds a more contented atmosphere. 
We will start in with the floor. I want to 
repeat here, briefly, what has already been 
said in regard to the litter on the floor of the 
house. Birds with cold feet cannot be healthy. 
If the floor is covered with a six-inch litter of 
straw, or shavings, the floor will be warm, and 
they can be given a scratching ration that will 
make them exercise for their food. By all 
means do not fail to have a good litter of 
some kind on the floor during the late fall 
and winter months. 

The birds are rather peculiar creatures, when 
it comes to retiring for the night. They do not 
seek a place to lay down, but they look for 
something that will resemble a limb of a tree, 
where they can perch during the night. Man 


66 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

has therefore supplied something along this 
line, by erecting round poles, made of wood, 
so that the birds will have a convenient place 
to rest for the night. A few precautions must 
be guarded against here, however, as very few 
poultry men have given their birds suitable 
perches yet. The perches should be round, 
about two inches in diameter, and erected on 
the same level with each other. Too many 
perches are arranged in a ladder formation, 
having the rear perch the highest, and the 
front perch the lowest. When the birds get 
ready to go to roost, there is always an argu¬ 
ment as to which bird will have the rear roost, 
as they all want the highest place to roost, or 
perch. If the perches are all on the same 
level, then there is no preference, and things 
are more peaceful at roosting time. We should 
plan on allowing about ten inches per bird for 
perching room. Plan to have a distance 
of about fourteen inches between each perch, 
or pole. Arrange these perches at the rear 
of the house, running parallel with the rear 
wall. 

All modern poultry men have what is known 
as a dropping board under the perches, so that 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 67 

the droppings will not fall in the scratching 
litter and soil this part of the scratching area. 
These dropping boards are usually placed about 
six inches under the perches, and extend as 
far forward as the perches do. This makes 
the job of cleaning the poultry house quite a 
simple operation. It is advisable to sprinkle 
some sand over the dropping boards to absorb 
the moisture and bad odor. 

We have to give the birds a comfortable, well 
secluded place to lay their eggs. This is some¬ 
times done by placing the nests, or the part 
facing the front wall, covered over with a 
board, that can be raised by means of a hinge, 
when collecting the eggs. The hen can be 
made to enter the nest from the rear, and if 
conditions are so that the nest is darkened, 
then the hen will prefer this place to any 
other place in the house. Nests can also be 
placed along the front wall, underneath the 
windows, or on either side of the house. How¬ 
ever, up to the present time, below the dropping 
boards seems to be the most popular place for 
the nests with most poultry men. 

Every poultry house should have a dust box. 
This is a box partially filled with dust or fine 


68 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

soil, and placed in the front part of the house, 
so that it will be in the sunlight. The birds 
appreciate such a device, and will use it gen¬ 
erously, as this aids them in fighting off in¬ 
sects that prey upon them. 

Suitable containers for food and water should 
be provided, and kept clean. The drinking 
fountains are of various designs, and one can 
buy these very cheaply. They are usually jars 
or cans inverted, so that the water will come 
out in a small opening at the bottom, just large 
enough for the bird to stick its head in. The 
food containers, for the dry mash are generally 
of the hopper kind, having a box-like container 
with a trough at the bottom, so that the food 
falls down into the small trough by gravity as 
the birds consume it. Thus, in a good sized 
hopper, a week’s ration of mash can be put in 
the hopper without further attention. 

CHAPTER XII. 

LICE AND MITES 

While we have interior fixtures of the poultry 
house fresh in mind let us turn our attention 
briefly to the study of parasites that live on the 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 69 

hen, and that are detrimental to her progress. 
There are quite a few various insects that de¬ 
pend upon the hen for their existence, but for 
our purposes we can consider them in a general 
class of lice and mites, as the treatment for 
each class is practically the same. v 

Let us first consider the case of lice. These 
insects live upon the body of the hen, eating 
the flesh, and dead skin as it peals off. They 
never leave the hen, and if conditions are favor¬ 
able, will lay their eggs on her body, thus mul¬ 
tiplying rapidly if precautions are not taken to 
look after this matter. It is always well to 
treat a setting hen for lice before she is placed 
on the nest, and then once or twice after she 
has started her job, because these lice will very 
readily transfer from the mother hen to the 
young chicks, as soon as hatched, and a great 
many chicks clie every year from these lice. 
It is a splendid idea to grease all baby chicks, 
especially those hatched by natural incubation, 
with blue ointment, around the head parts, and 
wings. The hens can also be greased in a 
similar manner over the whole body. 

Here is where the dust box that we discussed 
briefly in the previous chapter comes in, as the 


70 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

y birds, wallowing in the box of dust, smother 
the lice, by shaking the dust into the pores of 
the bird’s body. A rather recent method of 
combating lice on birds is now fast gaining 
favor. This is the Sodium Floride treatment. 
This is best used only on a mild day, however, 
as the birds are quite wet after their treat¬ 
ment under this method. The treatment is 
usually given as follows: Take an ordinary 
wash tub, and fill nearly full with not too cold 
water. For every gallon of water in the tub, 
add one ounce of sodium floride, obtainable at 
any drug store. Dip the hen in this solution, 
tail first, being sure to have a firm grasp on 
her so she will not splash the water over. Dip 
her in this manner about three times, so that 
the solution comes up in under the feathers. 
This method has been found to be very effec¬ 
tive. In extreme cases, where the lice are very 
bad, another similar treatment can be given 
each bird about a month later. Other good 
materials to apply to the bird’s body, besides 
those already mentioned, are sweet oil, vaseline, 
and lard. 

Now we come to another pest that is a little 
harder to get rid of than the body lice. The 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 71 

mites, which are so bothersome to most poultry, 
have the peculiar habit of staying on the birds 
only during the night, creeping down at day¬ 
light to some crack or crevice to hide until 
darkness again forces the birds to go to roost. 
These mites are even more destructive in their 
work than are the body lice. They are gen- 
erally found in any crack or crevice about the 
perches,. Here they can obscure themselves, 
and be very close to their prey when ready to 
begin their work at night. While the lice are 
eating insects, the mites are sucking insects, 
and suck the blood of the birds during the 
night. When the mite is hungry, he is of a 
yellowish color. When filled up, however, with 
a good meal of blood, he is red. The mite is 
very small, and is similar in construction to 
a spider. 

If a flock of chickens are believed to be 
suffering from mites, and there are very few, 
by the way, that are not troubled with these 
pests, then it would be advisable first, to white¬ 
wash the poultry house thoroughly, not only 
the roosting quarters, but the walls and other 
fixtures inside the house. Kerosene is quite 
frequently used to spray the nests with, but has 


72 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

not the lasting power that some of the coal tar 
products possess. Recently, wood preservatives 
have been used for the purposes of ridding the 
poultry house of mites, and very good results 
Lave been obtained from this method. 

„ CHAPTER XIII. 

POULTRY DISEASES 

It is not to be supposed that poultry, living 
under the artificial conditions that man has 
ordained for them, can be entirely free from 
diseases. In fact, very few poultry men can 
say that they have not had some kind of disease 
affect their flock. Most diseases are contagious, 
so it is important to be on the watch for any 
symptoms of anything out of the ordinary. 
Sanitation plays a very important part in keep- 
. ing Hhe flock free from diseases, and clean 
methods should always prevail. Do not allow 
the house to become filthy and foul smelling. 
It is always a good precaution to disinfect the 
poultry premises at least once a year with a 
good whitewash or some strong disinfectant. 
This is about the same as taking out a life 
insurance policy for the flock. 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 73 

Dampness is ^probably about the most com¬ 
mon cause for diseases. Disease germs always 
multiply more rapidly in damp, dark quarters. 
Therefore the advice given in an early chapter 
about keeping the poultry house light and well 
ventilated, will bear repetition. If one is ac- 
customed to watching his birds as to their 
physical condition, |ie will be able to notice 
the symptoms of any on-coming disease in time 
to isolate the bird thus affected, before the 
disease has a chance to spread, if it is a con¬ 
tagious disease. By watching a bird thus 
isolated, and also looking very carefully for any 
further symptoms in the flock, one can do con¬ 
siderable in checking the disease. The old 
adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a 
pound of cure,” certainly is true in this case. 

Indigestion is a very common ailment with 
poultry, especially with those birds that are fed 
heavy for egg production. Usually a little 
laxative material placed in the drinking water, 
and making more of their ration a scratching 
ration, in order to induce exercise, is probably 
as simple and effective a treatment as can be 
given. 

Roup, chicken pox, and canker are also very 


74 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

common poultry diseases. These three diseases 
are all supposed to he due to a small organism 
which multiply very rapidly, and acts mostly 
on the skin of the bird. These diseases are not 
similar in appearance, however, despite the fact 
that their source is the same. 

Roup attacks the mucous membrane lining 
of the nose, and eye. Th#se parts become red 
and inflamed, and infected with a pus forma¬ 
tion. This disease is spread largely through 
the drinking water, and is prevalent in the 
spring when it is damp. Keep the birds healthy 
and vigorous, provide proper ventilation, and 
have things as dry as possible, and little should 
be feared from this source. 

Chicken pox makes its appearance on the 
comb and wattles, and also on the face of the 
bird, by small pockets on these parts. The 
remedy is the same in this case as has been 
stated for roup, except that if only a few birds 
have contracted the disease, each bird can be 
taken in hand and given individual treatment, 
by removing the crust over the sores, and apply¬ 
ing a good disinfectant. 

Canker manifests itself by pale yellow spots 
on the inside of the mouth. This is best 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT T5 

treated, as soon as discovered, by scraping off 
this light yellow material, and applying a good 
disinfectant. 

All of these last three named diseases are 
caused by the same conditions, and by avoid¬ 
ing these conditions very little trouble will be 
experienced in this malady. Birds that have 
had any of the above mentioned diseases should 
never be used for breeding purposes, as their 
offspring will have a predisposition to the same 
ailment. 

Sometimes the perches are placed too high 
in the chicken house, and the birds have to 
jump too far to reach the floor. When this 
happens, a hard lump often forms on the sole of 
the foot. This is sometimes called bumble foot, 
and is usually evident in the chicken's walk. 
Nothing but cutting out the hard part, and 
washing the sore with a good disinfectant can 
remedy this condition. 

While frosted combs could not be called a 
contagious disease, we will discuss this matter 
briefly, before closing this chapter. In severe 
weather, when the temperature is below zero, 
and there is considerable dampness in the 
poultry house, frozen combs are quite frequent* 


76 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

This is especially true of the lighter birds, 
which possess larger head parts than do the 
heavier breeds. When a bird has its comb or 
wattles frozen, it will stop laying for a con¬ 
siderable period of time, usually a month at 
least. If birds are found on a cold winter 
morning with frozen combs, they should be 
treated with snow or cold water, to take out 
the frost, and then treated daily with vaseline 
until cured. It is well to provide a pole up 
near the roof of the poultry house, upon which 
a curtain, made of burlap or some old cloth, 
is arranged so that on cold winter nights this 
curtain can be lowered directly in front of the 
front perch. This will tend to protect the 
birds from the excessive cold, by conserving the 
heat given off by their bodies during the night. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

CULL THE FLOCK 

When the poultry industry was being estab¬ 
lished upon a business foundation, many of the 
leading breeders devised the idea of measuring 
the egg capacity of their birds by actually 
counting the eggs laid by their best birds. This 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 77 

practice is still followed by many poultry 
breeders, but is a job that consumes consider¬ 
able time, and it can be seen that only those 
who are constantly with the flock could be able 
to do this. But within the last few years, there 
has been developed a system whereby one can 
tell by the external appearance of the bird just 
about what her ability as an egg producer will 
be in one year. A Mr. Hogan was the first 
man to notice these characteristics and his 
method has been so far perfected that most 
poultry keepers are quite familiar with it, and 
thereby saved the bother of trap-nesting. 

This culling process, as it is called, is best 
accomplished during the months of August and 
September. By picking up each female in the 
flock at this time, except of course the spring 
pullets, one can find out which birds are still 
laying, and wtych ones have already quit. It 
has been in the past too much the custom of 
farmers to go out into their poultry flock in 
the fall of the year, and pick out the birds 
that had not yet started to moult, and whose 
appearance was ragged and rather uncomely. 
These birds would be picked out by the farmer, 
or in many cases his wife, and sent to market 


78 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

as meat birds, and they would keep the birds 
who had already moulted, and whose feathers 
were in splendid color at that time. However, 
in the light of recent facts brought out by this 
culling process, we now know that these rather 
ragged, unsightly birds were our best layers, 
and should have been kept because they had 
been working continuously,’ not taking the 
time off to quit laying and look pretty, as had 
their more lazy companions. There are still 
a great number of people that cling to the old 
method, but the light is dawning, and it will 
probably be but a short while before practically 
everyone interested in poultry will know of 
this culling method, and who can in a brief 
examination of a bird tell quite readily whether 
she should be kept or sold. 

We will now discuss the various methods by 
which a bird can be judged ns to her egg 
laying ability. No one sign can fee relied upon, 
but the different signs taken together should 
form the final judgment. One can usually 
tell something about the bird by her general 
habits. The good layer is a busy hen. She is 
happy, singing, and not as afraid of the at¬ 
tendant as is the loafer. As this hen usually 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 79 

eats^more than the non-layer, she is usually 

found busily scratching in the litter for the 
food material with which she makes her eggs. 
The good layer is always the first off the 
roost in the morning, and the last one to go 

to roost at night. Watch out for the timid, 

crafty hen that stays on the outskirts of the 
flock. She is lazy, inactive, and the quicker 
she is sent to the butcher, the better. An¬ 
other very good aid in forming judgment as 
to the ability of the birds, is to go around 
the roosts at night, after the birds have all 

gone to roost. Feel of their crops. The good 

• • 

layer that has been working hard to get to¬ 
gether food material for her eggs will have 
a full crop, while her lazy companions, that 
are not so interested in producing eggs, will 
have a fairly empty crop at this time. Little 
items such as I have mentioned here will tell 
considerable about the ability of the birds. It 
is a fact that there are any number of birds 
in America that lay only st few dozen eggs per 
year, but are kept the year round, because 
the owner has had no way of knowing the 
producers from the non-producers. 

As has been already brought out, the heavy 


80 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

layers molt late. Often they continue laying 
up until October and November. If you have 
hens nearly naked of feathers in October or 
November, just rest assured that these are 
your most profitable birds, and that they did 
not quit laying to put on a pretty coat of 
feathers in the middle of the summer. You 
should mark these birds in some manner, so 
that you can use them as breeders for the 
coming winter, because, if they are mated 
with a cockerel, that is the son of a good 
layer, your strain will be greatly improved, 
because these birds will transmit their laying 
ability to their offspring. 

A good laying hen will have a long, broad, 
and deep, rectangular body, with top and bot¬ 
tom lines parallel. This large sized body is 
essential to the hen, so that she will have 
sufficient room to digest enough food to make 
her eggs. A broad back is also necessary for 
proper room for the reproductive organs that 
make the egg. The head of the good layer 
is always of a healthy appearance. The good 
layer has a short' stubby beak, or bill, and 
gracefully curved, as compared to the long 
shapeless bill of the loafer. The eyes are 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 81 

prominent, and stick out similar to a shoe 
button, rather than sunken in. The combs 
and wattles are red, and not pale, as in the 
non-layer. 

The good layer will not have the bright col¬ 
ored yellow, after she has been laying for a 
short while, that the loafer will have. This 
is because she uses this yellow pigment in 
making the yolk of her eggs, so that as her 
laying period proceeds, she becomes more and 
more faded in her bill, eye lids, ear lobes, and 
shanks. Consequently, if some of your birds 
have a faded appearance, don’t condemn them, 
they are the hardest workers in your flock. 
Furthermore, the* hen with worn toe-nails is 
one that should be kept, because this shows 
us quite clearly that she uses them consider' 
ably in scratching for her feed. 

Now let us examine the anatomy of the hen 
a little more closely so that we can get some 
more evidence for or against the hen in ques¬ 
tion. N One of the most common ways, nowa¬ 
days, in picking out the laying hen is to ex¬ 
amine , what is known as the pelvic bones. 
These are found on either side of the vent, 
towards the rear of the body. They are gen- 


82 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

erally called the lay bones by most poultry 
men. They both mean the same. Now these 
bones tell a vivid story. These bones are 
usually measured by the fingers, or as to how 
many fingers can be inserted between the two 
bones. A poor layer will have a thick, griz¬ 
zly covering of meat over the lay, or pelvic 
bones, and just about the width of one finger 
can be inserted between them. This shows 
us quickly that she is not a layer. Then, 
lets compare this poor layer to the good layer. 
Here we find something different. There is 
just a slight covering over the pelvic bones. 
The meat is thin and spare. If we feel of 
the bones, we find them quite thin and pliable. 
We next try to insert as many fingers be¬ 
tween the two bones as possible. We will find 
that we can insert at least two fingers, and 
probably three, if our fingers are not too wide. 
The heavier the hen is laying, the wider the 
distance between the bones. 

Now, while we have the bird, let us look a 
little further into this bird’s conformation. The 
keel bone, or rear end of the breast bone, can 
be used as one unit, and the lay bones as 
the other unit of measure. See how many 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 83 

fingers you can get between the lay bones and 
the keel bone. Even for a small breed you 
should easily get in the width of three fin¬ 
gers, and for a larger breed you should get in 
the width of four fingers. This measures the 
hen’s capacity for feed. 

This distance between the lay bones and 
the keel bone is called the abdomen. We can 
tell considerable about the hen by the texture 
of the abdomen skin. If the skin is tough, 
and meaty, we can say right away that she 
is not a good hen, but if the skin is tender, 
pliable, and soft, then we can feel assured 
that she must be kept in the flock. 

These are the principal features in selecting 
the laying hen. If one can get these prin¬ 
ciples in mind, and go out into his flock and 
separate the hens into two flocks, and keep 
these two flocks apart for a while, he would 
discover some interesting things. For in¬ 
stance, cull out the poor hens and put them in 
one pen. Possibly you will have the largest 
pen, when you have finished, composed of the 
poor layers. Keep the good hens in another 
pen separated from the poor ones. Keep feed¬ 
ing the same feeds as you had been doing 


84 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

before you separated the flock into two pens. 
Now, for a few weeks, compare the daily egg 
record of the two flocks. You will find that 
there is about as much difference as between 
night and day. Now, to bring the lesson home 
a little more forceful, just figure out what 
it costs you per day to keep these star boarders, 
and see if you think culling is a paying 
proposition. Most every agricultural college 
has a bulletin printed on culling giving essen¬ 
tially the same information as I have given, 
but they usually have quite a few illustrations 
that will make the procedure a little more 
clearer than I have done. 

CHAPTER XV. 

PRESERVING EGGS FOR WINTER 

It was deemed advisable to add a few words 
in this little booklet in regard to collecting eggs 
when they-are cheap, and storing them away 
for the part of the year when eggs are high 
priced. During the months of March, April, 
May, and June eggs are the cheapest on the 
market, due to the fact that the birds are all 

layjng during these few months, and conse- 

/ 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 85 

quently, the supply far exceeds the average 
demand. If we pay fifteen cents for a dozen 
of eggs in April, or May, and then in Decem¬ 
ber we pay sixty cents or more for the same 
product, tlien it can easily be seen that it is a 
paying proposition to store some of these 
cheap spring eggs for winter use. We will now 
take up the method of storing these spring eggs 
for our December breakfast. 

To make this process about 100 per cent 
efficient, it is best to candle the eggs first, 
before storing them away. This process of 
candling has been explained in a previous chap¬ 
ter. If the air cell, at the blunt end of the 
egg is small, then we may be sure that the egg 
is of recent origin. If the contents look clear, 
and the yolk is not loose, inside the shell, then 
we need have no fears as to the edibility of the 
egg. One very good way, for one not accus¬ 
tomed to candling, is to examine a few in 
front of the light, and then break a few in a 
dish, so as to get the proper relation fixed in 
mind. If we can secure eggs that are infer¬ 
tile, we will not have to throw out hardly any 
eggs in this process. 

In preparing to preserve our eggs for winter. 


86 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

there are several methods used by people who 
follow this practice. Some just pack the eggs 
in sawdust in a box or barrel, but this method 
is not always reliable. There are two standard 
ways of preserving these eggs. One is in using 
waterglass, and the other is the use of lime 
water solution. Both methods are reliable, but 
the first named method seems to be the more 
popular of the two. In either case, earthen 
crocks or wooden pails are the best containers. 
Neither of these solutions affects them. A 
three gallon container is large enough to pre¬ 
serve ten dozen eggs. For this sized container, 
about six quarts of the solution will be neces¬ 
sary. 

We will discuss the waterglass method first. 
Procure the amount of waterglass that you will 
need for this year at a drug store. Use this 
at the rate of one pint of waterglass to nine 
pints of water. Before mixing the two liquids, 
boil the water, and let it cool. Then mix the 
two liquids, in the proportion stated, and place 
in container. Then add the eggs, (about ten 
dozen to this mixture), and store in a cool 
place. Be sure that there is about two or three 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 87 

inches of the solution above the eggs, and add 
a little water occasionally to replace the water 
lost by evaporation. 

The lime solution is mixed a little different¬ 
ly. Slack about two pounds of quick lime in a 
small quantity of hot water. After this has 
slacked, add it to about two gallons of water, 
and then add one pound of salt. Stir this in 
a thorough manner, and then allow the mixture 
to settle. There will then be found a sediment 
in the bottom of the solution. Pour off the 
clear liquid, and use this as the preservative 
material. Then keep the same as directions 
given for the waterglass preparation. In this 
manner, one can have table eggs the year round 
at a reasonable price. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

SELLING THE PRODUCT 

We have* discussed the main points to be 
considered in raising various poultry products 
in this little booklet. However, much of our 
success in the poultry business will depend on 
our ability to obtain the top prices for our prod¬ 
ucts after we have raised them. In fact, this 


88 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

is the cry all over the country now among the 
farming population. ‘The various agricultural 
agencies that have heretofore spent consider¬ 
able time and effort in teaching the farmer to 
raise a large quantity of good products, have 
apparently accomplished this result, and now 
these same agencies are trying to organize the 
the farmers into selling their products so that 
they can receive a higher price for them. 

The farmer usually has no time to devote to 
the special marketing of his crop, as he is too 
busy raising farm products, so attempts at co¬ 
operative marketing have been made. There 
have been many failures in this method in the 
past, but now the farmer realizes that this sys¬ 
tem is really his only salvation, and he is re¬ 
ceiving the idea of co-operation in a better mood 
than he did in the past. However, for the one 
living in town, with but a small flock of birds, 
more time can usually be devoted to this end 
of the business, with splendid returns. Many 
town lot poultry keepers can sell all the eggs 
that they can get just around to their neigh¬ 
bors, who are usually glad to pay a little more 
than the market price for the assurance that 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT . 89 

the eggs are strictly fresh. However, if one has 
a fairly good yield of winter eggs, and is not 
content to sell the eggs to his neighbors at 
around market price, there are other methods 
that can bring much higher returns. 

Some poultry raisers get in touch with local 
or neighboring hotels and restaurants, and agree 
to let these parties have their entire output of 
eggs at a certain margin above market priee. 
For instance, it is a common method to make 
an agreement with such parties to sell them 
their eggs at ten cents above market prices. 
If the market quotations for fresh eggs were 
thirty-two cents for a certain day, the hotel 
keeper would pay forty-two cents, if the eggs 
were delivered on this day. Usually, the res¬ 
taurant or hotel is glad to pay this premium 
over the market price, because he takes quite 
a chance with store eggs, in that some of them 
are often stale, and this is a matter that re¬ 
flects against his business. Also, if such an 
agreement^ can be made, the hotel or restaurant 
man can advertise the fact that he serves noth¬ 
ing but fresh eggs, which is good business for 
him. 


90 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

When one is getting a big yield daily, he can 
usually plan to sell his eggs by the case to city 
commission men, who will always pay a good 
premium over local markets. If one has not 
enough eggs to sell a case once or twice weekly 
in such a manner, this difficulty is often over¬ 
come by combining with neighbors who are 
willing to take the proper care in producing 
clean, fresh eggs for market. However, such 
neighbors must be in sympathy with what is 
expected for fresh eggs, and who have the cour¬ 
age to refrain from putting in eggs that are 
not clean and fresh. If one case is sent in to 
these commission men and the quality of the 
eggs is not of first class, quite a dockage will 
he deducted from the check, and your reputa¬ 
tion will thereby suffer. Never wash eggs that 
are soiled, but use them in your own kitchen, 
as the washing will remove the natural bloom, 
or fine powder that is found on the untouched 
egg. One can secure clean eggs by keeping the 
bedding in the nests clean. 

There is always a splendid opportunity to sell 
hatching eggs in the spring of the year, if one 
has had the foresight to get started in pure- 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 91 

bred poultry. There is always a large demand 
for hatching eggs and most hatcheries can not 
fill their orders. For the one engaged in the 
poultry business, even on a small scale, this 
offers a splendid opportunity, especially when 
eggs are selling cheap on the market, as they 
do in the spring of the year, to divide the ma¬ 
ture birds up into small pens of about ten fe¬ 
males to one good male bird, and sell these 
eggs at anywhere from $1.50 a setting to as 
much as you can get. The higher the quality 
of the stock, the more money one can demand 
for such hatching eggs. 

Then there is another good source of rev¬ 
enue from selling adult birds for breeding pur¬ 
poses. If your flock is composed of good in¬ 
dividuals, you should experience little diffi¬ 
culty in selling your surplus birds from $5 up. 
A little well planned advertising is often a 
good thing to do, to let people know what you 
have got for sale. Often an advertisement in 
the local paper, or a rural weekly will bring 
in many inquiries in regard to the birds or 

t 

eggs that you have to sell. 

Probably a cheaper way of advertising, if you 


92' POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

really have good birds, is to show a pen, con¬ 
sisting of four females and one male, at some 
of the neighboring poultry shows. If you can 
succeed in winning a premium, this will be a 
splendid factor in your efforts in selling breed¬ 
ing stock. It ig usually permissible to place a 
little card on the outside of your pen at the 
poultry show, giving your name and address, 
and stating that you have breeding stock for 
safe, y or that you are now taking orders for 
hatching eggs in the spring. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

IN CONCLUSION 

i have tried to explain in this little booklet 
that there is a splendid opportunity for one to 
engage in the poultry industry, whether it be 
on a large scale, or a small scale. There is con¬ 
siderable pleasure as well as profit in this 
work, for the one that is posted on a few of the 
essential principles, as has been laid down in 
this short treatise. It will probably be well to 
repeat a few facts that should be remembered 
first, however, before closing. 

Do not expect to make a great amount of 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 93 

money from your poultry the first year. Get¬ 
ting started right in the poultry business will 
cost something, so for the first year, if you 
just break even you will do well. Plan to 
learn as you go along. Every poultry raiser 
should take at least one poultry journal, to 
keep posted on the latest facts concerning the 
business. These journals always carry a great 
amount of advertising matter in regard to 
stock for breeding and in regard to poultry 
house equipment, etc. Many useful ideas can 
be secured from pretty near every issue of a 
standard paper. 

Get acquainted with the other poultry people 
in your own locality. This is especially true in 
regard to those who have the same breed that 
you have. If your locality boasts of a poultry 
association, become a member of this associa¬ 
tion. You can then get much valuable infor¬ 
mation in regard to your business. 

% 1 

Get in touch with your state agricultural 
college, and especially with the poultry depart¬ 
ment. Write to them and ask them to send you 
all the bulletins that they have published on 
poultry, and tell them to place you on their 


94 POULTRY FOR PROFIT 

mailing list, so that any future bulletins that 
they may publish will be sent you free of 
charge. Then the U. S. Dept, of Agriculture 
has many excellent bulletins on different 
branches of the poultry industry that are worth 
sending for. It is located at Washington, D. 
C. Another splendid thing, if you can succeed 
in interesting others in your community, would 
be to send to the Motion Picture Lab., U. S. 
Dept, of Agriculture, Wash., D. C., and have 
them send you their film on culling, entitled, 
“Select the Laying Hen.” It certainly brings 
out in a splendid manner, just how to cull your 
flock. Most any moving picture house would 
be glad to run this reel free of charge. The 
only expense of securing this film is the trans¬ 
portation charges from Washington, D. C., to 
your home town. 

With these parting words on the .betterment 
of your flock, remember that poultry work has 
its ups and downs, like any other business. 
However, for one willing to inform himself on 
the business, a very pleasurable and profitable 
experience may be anticipated. 


POULTRY FOR PROFIT 


95 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The books listed below are in cloth binding 
and can be secured from Haldeman-Julius Com¬ 
pany, Clothbound Book Department, Girard, 
Kansas. The prices quoted include carriage 
charges. 

Success With Hens, Robert Joos. Cloth. $1.35 
postpaid. 

My Poultry Day by Day, Alfred Gibson. Cloth. 
$3.15 postpaid. 

International Poultryman’s Handbook. Cloth. 
Illustrated. $1.10 postpaid. 

Anatomy of the Fowl, Kaupp. Cloth. Illus¬ 
trated. $3.65 postpaid. 

Poultry Culture, Hygiene and Sanitation, 
Kaupp. Cloth. Illustrated. $3.15 postpaid. 

Mating and Breeding of Poultry, Lamon & 
Slocum. Cloth. $2.65 postpaid. 









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edited by E. Haldeman-Ji 
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One year—twelve issues—only 50 cents in U. 
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HALDEMAN-JULIUS WEEKLY brings to its 
readers the best works of the world’s greatest 
minds. Fifty-two issues—one year—only $1 in 
U. S.; $1.50 in Canada and Foreign. HALDE¬ 
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KNOW THYSELF 

KNOW THYSELF is a monthly magazine 
edited by William J. Fielding and E. Haldeman- 
Julius. KNOW THYSELF’S policy is to sup¬ 
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